Twitter abuzz as Turnbull leaves BBC Breakfast to spend more time with his bees

BBC Breakfast presenter Bill Turnbull is leaving the show after 15 years – to spend more time with his #bees.

Turnbull confirmed the news on Twitter after a story appeared in the Daily Mirror, saying: “He’s right, you know.”

BBC Breakfast posted two photos of him on the show’s red sofa with his co-presenters, who were wiping tears away.

Turnbull is believed to be leaving to spend more time with his wife as well as his beloved bees.

The 59-year-old told the Mirror: “I agreed to come north for two years and it went so well I agreed to do another two years.

“That is coming to an end – by that time I will have been doing the show for nearly 15 years, which is more than enough for me and the audience. So it is a good time to call it a day and do something else.

“It was a long-term decision. I could see this coming up, and it was always the plan.

“I’ll leave early next year. There is some sadness, but no regrets.”

He told the paper: “I have been neglecting my bees for far too long. They are on a farm, they were going to come up here to the Lakes where we live but it was too windy.

“They are down in Buckinghamshire. I don’t see them very often but they don’t seem to mind!”

The presenter also said his 3am starts were something “you never get used to”.